Who May Enter through the Gate? (RCL Easter 4A, 11 May 2014)

RCL Easter 4A

11 May 2014

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Focus text:  John 10.1-10

Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached on Sunday the 11th at the 10.00 a.m. Eucharist.

            In September of 1964 I entered Grade 6 and was assigned to Mr Schiff’s class.  All of us who were in his class felt very special; not so much because we knew anything about Mr Schiff, who was an unknown to all of us.  What was special was the location of our class:  not in the main building with the little kids, but in a separate, so-called ‘portable’ classroom on the school grounds.  It was like having our own private school.

            The fall of 1964 was momentous to my eleven- and twelve-year-old classmates.  It was a presidential election year that pitted Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Democratic president, and Barry Goldwater, the Republican challenger.  Johnson, who had assumed the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kenney in November 1963, was seeking his own mandate on a platform of bold social programmes, some of which are still part of the American political fabric.  Goldwater and the Republicans were trying to halt what they saw as an expansion of the government in Johnson’s so-called ‘Great Society’.

            We were old enough to understand some of the political discussions taking place among our parents’ friends and acquaintances.  My father’s family had been dyed-in-the-wool Democrats since the days of Franklin Roosevelt and my mother’s ‘red’ Labour in England.  Within my family circle opposition to Goldwater was pretty strong.

            Because we were becoming politically aware, Mr Schiff decided to organize a presidential debate.  We studied the issues, the party platforms and prepared for the in-class debate scheduled for mid-October.  I was please when Mr Schiff chose me to lead the Democratic team.  Fifty years later I only remember that the debate revealed what has continued to be one of my significant flaws:  I cannot remain dispassionate in a debate.

            What I remember most clearly about my year with Mr Schiff was that he was the first Jew I had ever met in my twelve years.  Intellectually I knew that there were other non-Christian religions, but, in the Colorado Springs of the 1960’s, other religions tended to mean Roman Catholics or Methodists or Baptists or even Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons!  I had been exposed to the anti-Judaism prevalent in American society despite the catastrophe of the Shoah.  Most of my friends would probably have believed that only Christians would go to heaven.

            I do not know how, but having Mr Schiff as my teacher changed the way I thought about other religions and other religious believers.  Although my memories of Mr Schiff have lost their precision over the years, whenever I think of him I am overwhelmed by feelings of respect and deep affection.  If Mr Schiff, a man of deep integrity, was not welcome in heaven, my twelve-year-old mind began to ask the question, “How could God be just?”

            In today’s gospel we are offered two images of Jesus, one that is familiar and comforting, the other that is less familiar and challenging.  The first image is that of Jesus as the good shepherd.  It is comforting to think of our Lord, the Son of God, as someone who seeks us out when we are lost, who risks everything for our well-being and who knows each one of us by name.  As an image it is as warm and cozy as the wool sheep provide.  Is it any wonder that Psalm 23 is used so frequently at funerals?

            The other image is cooler and scratchier:  Jesus as ‘the gate to the sheepfold’. 

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate.  Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [1]

No one can enter the sheepfold, an image for God’s coming reign of justice and peace, unless they enter through the only gate, Jesus.  Any other ‘gate’, the evangelist John tells us, is the gate of thieves and bandits.

            For some Christians, perhaps even the majority, to call Jesus the ‘gate’ means that no one will enter the coming reign of God unless they confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  No matter how ‘nice’ Mr Schiff may have been, he was a Jew and, unless he converted, he was destined to be eternally on the outside looking in.  Throughout the world today there are hundreds if not thousands of Christian missionary agencies whose primary motivational message is this:  ‘If we don’t convert unbelievers, then they are doomed.’  Some of these agencies actively practice what I would call ‘sheep-stealing’:  they reach out to Christians who do not share the agency’s particular understanding of Christian faith and practice and imply that any other way of being Christian is also doomed.

            There is another way to interpret this text that draws inspiration from the beginning of John’s gospel.

            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. [2]

John speaks of the Word as the principle or pattern by which God uses to create, to redeem and to bring to perfection the whole universe.  Note that John does not say that the Word is the pattern only for some people; it is the pattern for ‘all people’ and that nothing has come into being without being made in this pattern.

            This pattern, the Word, the ‘Logos’ to use the Greek term, is active in all times and places.  Christians believe that this Word is uniquely made known in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  This belief is summed up in the words of my late teacher, Jim Griffiss, when he said, “All Christian teaching can be summarized by saying, ‘When you meet Jesus of Nazareth, you meet God.’  Everything else is commentary.”

            To believe that we meet God uniquely in Jesus of Nazareth does not mean that we need to condemn the religious faith of other people nor see them as our competitors.  Because the Word, the pattern of life, the ‘deep magic’ of creation, has been active before time and in time, before the kosmos and in the kosmos, this life has been implanted in the very DNA of all human beings, before and after the Word becoming flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.

            We Christians can rejoice that we are surrounded by other peoples of faith whose lives manifest the pattern of the Word --- even when they are completely unaware of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.  Whoever works for justice reveals the Word.  Whoever offers compassion embodies the Word.  Whoever does what Jesus would do is a friend of the Word.  Entering the promised reign of God has more to do with living the good news, living a Jesus-shaped life, than it does with having the right religious credentials.

            There are many others, however, in the world, in our neighbourhoods, with whom we do need to share the good news we know in Jesus of Nazareth.  They are seeking life in its fullness that Jesus offer to all who will follow in his path and they have not yet found it.  They know in their innermost beings a longing for the life implanted in them from the moment of their conception and reinforced every moment of their lives.  What they have not yet done is commit themselves to following a path that brings them knowledge of eternal life, the fullness of life in the here and now as well as the hope of that same life in the future.

            I am convinced Mr Schiff knew this life in his Jewish faith and practice.  I am convinced that my Sikh neighbours know this life in their faith and practice.  I am equally convinced that we all live a life shaped by the Word and it is that Word that gives life to all humanity.  But there are many who live in darkness and who cannot see the Word.  It is to them that you and I are sent to proclaim the good news of God in Christ so that they may life, abundant life, eternal life.  May it be so.  Amen.

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[1] John 10.7-10 (New Revised Standard Version).

[2] John 1.1-5 (New Revised Standard Version).

Let's Grow Up!

The First Sunday after Christmas

30 December 2012

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

1 Samuel 2.18-20, 26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3.12-17; Luke 2.41-52

For an audio recording of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 a.m. Eucharist at Saint Faith's please click here.

            In June of 1981 I was ordained to the transitional diaconate and assigned to the Diocesan Office in Denver as Deacon to the Bishops.  I suppose that today we might call my position as ‘personal assistant to the Bishops’.  Basically my job was to do whatever the Bishops asked me to do --- so long as it was legal, canonical and moral!  I remember those seven months very well.  It was during that time that Paula, a member of the Diocesan staff, and I became more acquainted.  It was also a time that bequeathed a broader vision of the church to me --- a church in which parishes were a vital expression but not the only expression of what it means to be ‘church’.

            One day the switchboard transferred a call to me --- the days before voicemail and sedate electronic voices saying things such as ‘if you want Richard Leggett, press 201’.  A member of one of our parishes had been admitted to Saint Luke’s Hospital, the Episcopal hospital in Denver, and wished communion before surgery.  Since none of her parish clergy were available, the called asked if one of the members of the Diocesan staff could go.  I checked with the Bishops and they sent me off, communion kit in hand.

            Now honesty compels me to say that I thought that I was a pretty important person in those days.  I was freshly out of seminary, very sure of myself and a member of the Bishops’ staff.  Surely the woman would feel particularly honoured to have a communion visit from someone of my stature!

            The woman’s name was Euke, short for Eulalia, and she was a member of Christ Church Denver, the parish that I would serve as curate in six months’ time.  We chatted for a few minutes while I set up the reserved sacrament.  We read the scriptures, prayed and I laid my hands on her and anointed her in preparation for surgery.  Then we shared the bread and wine of the eucharist.  After a moment of silence we began to say the Lord’s Prayer together.  That’s where the problem began --- I could not remember the words of the Lord’s Prayer and I had closed the prayer book.

            It’s a funny thing.  By ourselves we can probably all recite the Lord’s Prayer in either traditional or contemporary language.  But when we recite something together we become dependent on one another.  If one of us slips us, all of us go down together.  Euke and I spent a few agonizing moments stumbling over words that both of us could say in our sleep.  Mercifully we struggled to the ‘Amen’ and I brought the service to a conclusion.

            Euke reached out and took my hand.  In a quiet and wise voice, she said, “It’s alright, Father Richard.  You’ll get better at this.” 

            What I did not know then was that in two years’ time I would officiate at Euke’s funeral, my last act as a priest of her parish.  Over the next two years I learned that Euke was right about many things and I hope that she was right about my getting better.  Her words were a reminder that life isn’t over until it is over and even then God may have more for us than we can ask or imagine.

            It is customary to hear today’s story from the gospel according to Luke as a story about the precocious wisdom of the young child, Jesus.  But as I thought about Euke this week and about my own life and the life of my family, I realized that today’s story about Jesus in the Temple is also a story about a young person who will get better at being who he is, but he is not yet there.  In fact, today’s episode is a story about a pre-teen boy who is being a pain to both his parents and other members of his family.  I can almost hear Mary saying, “You may well be the son of God, but you’ll still listen to me, young man!  You are still living with your father and me.”  And Luke gently says, “Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.  His mother cherished every word in her heart.  Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people.” (Luke 2.51-52, Common English Bible)

            I find come comfort in the idea that even Jesus had to mature in his relationship with God and in his relationships with people.  Sometimes we are so focused on the divinity of Jesus that we forget his humanity.  During the theological debates of the fourth and fifth centuries, one of the defenders of Jesus’ full humanity taught that if Jesus was not fully human, in every dimension of his being, then we are not truly saved.  If Jesus was truly human, then he experienced what you and I experience, that mystery and challenge of becoming fully ourselves, fully alive as God intended us to be, that process we call ‘growing up’.

            As I approach sixty in four months’ time, I am deeply aware of the fact that I am not yet fully grown up.  There are still many things that I have yet to fully learn and yet to have incorporated into my ways of thinking, acting and feeling.  I am sure that each one of us has a similar experience to mine:  Each time I think that I have figured something out about being human, I realize that I have not yet truly figured it out.  Just as I continue to be an unfolding mystery to myself, other people continue to be unfolding mysteries to me. 

            This is, I believe, good news.  I can live in hope, the hope that my mistakes are not the last word in my life, that my future is not merely a repetition of my past.

            What is true of you and me as individuals is true of that community we call the church.  There are folks who think of the church as an absolute, an unchanging institution that has nothing more to learn, nothing more to offer to the world.  But the truth is that God is still unfolding our future, still pointing us in new directions that lead us to ask new questions about who we are as God’s people.  Our past successes and failures do not define our future.

            In January we will be presenting to the Ministry and Congregational Development Committee of our Diocese a document that has been developed over the past year and a half.  It’s called our ‘Preferred Future’.  All of you have had a hand in shaping this plan for the next three to five years.  At its heart is the conviction that our ministry in Vancouver is not yet finished and that we still have work to do.  We are, in fact, still growing up, still maturing in our thinking, our acting and our feeling as a community of Christians.  One of my teachers, Louis Weil, said that when we see that there is still work to be done, there is only one thing to say:  “Thanks be to God!”

            So, let us join Jesus in maturing in wisdom and in favour with God and with our neighbours.  Let us grow in our compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  And whatever we do, whether in speech or in action, let us do it in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him. [i]  Amen.

---

[i] Cf. Luke 2.51-52; Colossians 3.12, 17.

How Can We Keep from Singing?

RCL Proper 34C:  The Reign of Christ

25 November 2012

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

2 Samuel 23.1-7; Psalm 132.1-12 [13-18]; Revelation 1.4b-8; John 18.33-37 [38]

Please click here for an audio recording of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 a.m. eucharist.

            Twenty years ago this weekend I was leading a worship workshop in a local parish.  This parish had a significant number of recent members who had little to no knowledge of the Anglican tradition.  The parish leadership thought that a workshop on worship would be one stage in helping this community grow in its understanding of how its distinctive character could be expressed within the parameters of Anglican thought and practice.

            One of the things that I was trying to do was to show them that the lectionary was not a weight around their neck.  I worked with them on the concept of ‘proclamation’ by noting that we speak of the ‘proclamation of the Word’ not the ‘readings’.  In other words, I pointed out to them that the Word of God could be proclaimed in word and song, in dance and drama, in ways that would enhance the possibility that the Word would actually touch those who heard.

            So in planning the Sunday liturgy I asked them to include one additional verse in the selection from the gospel according to John:  “Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’”  (John 18.38)  I then had them set up the reading as ‘reader’s theatre’ where three voices would narrate the story:  a narrator, Jesus and Pilate.  They thought that this was great and the next morning the liturgy progressed well.  At the end of the gospel, Pilate’s voice duly asked the question, “What is truth?”

           

            I was sitting in the congregation.  I stood up and said, “I would like to answer that question.”  With this I went to the lectern and began my sermon.

            On this Sunday when we celebrate the reign of Christ, when we proclaim that Jesus, to the exclusion of all other claims to our loyalty, is ‘Lord’, the question, “What is truth?” rings as pressing as it did two thousand years ago in Jerusalem and twenty years ago in Vancouver.

            Those of you who participated in our inaugural book club and who read The Lemon Tree will know that the book is about truth --- but whose perspective on the truth?  Should we look at the events of the last sixty-five years from the Israeli perspective and celebrate the establishment of a modern multi-party democracy that shares many of the values of Canadian society?  Or should we look at the events of the last sixty-five years from the Palestinian perspective and lament the callousness of Arab governments toward the plight of the Palestinians as well as the continued loss of land, life and hope that seems to colour both Gaza and the West Bank?

            Despite the claims of religious and scientific fundamentalists truth is like a multi-faceted diamond.  We can agree that the gem is beautiful and that it exists, but when we try to describe the stone we will quickly find that our perspective will colour our perception.  This is not a counsel of despair but a reminder that truth is best discerned when we seek as many perspectives on the question before us as we possibly can.

            For example, as the early Christians began to develop the canon of the New Testament, they did not give into the temptation to preserve only one account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Among the competing perspectives, four finally came to be held by the various communities to be authoritative:  Mark, then Matthew and Luke, then John.  But even as these four gospels were enshrined within the canon, the tradition was careful to add an important phrase to each title:  They are the gospels ‘according to’, a reminder that they each tell the story from point of view of a particular author or editor who comes from a distinctive Christian community.

            But all four tell the story of a Jewish rabbi who was revealed to be not only a gift teacher and healer but ‘God among us’, ‘Immanuel’.  All four tell the story of a spiritual teacher who challenged the limits of his religious community and who ran afoul of both the religious and civil authorities.  All four tell the story of a man executed for sedition who did not remain confined to the tomb but who was raised and empowered his followers to change the world.

            What is truth?  The truth is that Jesus continues to inspire women and men throughout the world to work for justice and peace even if that work leads to persecution, imprisonment and death.  The truth is that Jesus continues to work through small communities throughout the world who are unwilling to accept the status quo and are willing to work to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and free those who are in spiritual, emotional and physical bondage.  The truth is that Jesus continues to reign in the lives of millions of people throughout the world despite the claims of political ideologies and economic systems.

            At our recent special synod on the proposed diocesan financial campaign there were many voices.  Some were little short of despair as they described the state of their congregations.  But these voices were, in my opinion, in the minority.  While they should not be ignored, they should not be considered the consensus.  In many and varied ways throughout the day I heard a more hopeful message:  ‘We have good news to proclaim.  Let us work together to proclaim it.’  In these voices I heard the echoes of our proclamation of faith:  Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.

            As we approach Advent, I invite you to join me in answering Pilate’s question.  Let us share with one another our perspectives on the truth that we celebrate this day, the truth that “Since Love is lord of heaven and earth, how can [we] keep from singing?”  Let us speak the truth to a world that seeks truth, sometimes in all the wrong places.  Let us remember that the last word is not spoken by the Pilates of our world but by God.  And that word is ‘yes’; ‘yes’ to you and to me; ‘yes’ to all those who are seeking hope; ‘yes’ to the whole of creation.  Amen.

Liturgical Ordo for the Reign of Christ

reign of Christ

25 November 2012

The Gathering of the Community

Processional Hymn

‘Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending’  Common Praise #114

Introductory Responses

Splendour and honour and sovereign power

are yours by right, O Lord our God,

for you created everything that is,

and by your will they were created and have their being;

and yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,

for with your blood you have redeemed for God,

from every family, language, people and nation,

a priestly people to serve our God on earth.

And so, to the One who sits upon the throne,

and to Christ the Lamb,

be worship and praise, dominion and splendour

for ever and for evermore.

Hymn of Praise

‘Rejoice Today with One Accord’  Common Praise #318

Collect

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

you remembered the oath you swore to David

and so established a glorious realm of salvation

through Jesus of Nazareth, his heir.

Train our eyes to see your righteous rule,

that, standing firmly in hope

before the powers of this world,

we may heed your voice

and be constant in your truth.  Amen.[i]

The Proclamation of the Word

First Reading

2 Samuel 23.1-7

The Psalm

Psalm 132.1-12 in Songs for the Holy One

The Second Reading

Revelation 1.4b-8

The Gradual Hymn

‘Jesus, Remember Me’  Common Praise 634 (sung three times)

The Gospel

John 18.33-37

The Homily

The Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Father,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

We believe in one God:

the Author of all that is,

eternal Word of redemption and

life-giving Spirit of wisdom and truth.  Amen.[ii]

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

The Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

The Offertory Hymn

‘Praise to the Lord’  Common Praise #382

Prayer over the Gifts

Shepherd of your people,

you guide all things through Jesus

whom you have exalted over all creation.

Receive all we offer you this day

for the creation he cherished

and that you entrust to us;

through Christ our Lord.  Amen.[iii]

Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, gracious God,

creator of heaven and earth;

we give you thanks and praise

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You exalted him as Lord of all creation

that he might present to you

an eternal and universal kingdom:

a kingdom of truth and life,

a kingdom of holiness and grace,

a kingdom of justice, love and peace.

Therefore at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow

as heaven and earth proclaim the glory of your name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father:

Endless is your mercy and eternal your reign.

You have filled all creation with light and life;

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

We praise you for the grace shown to your people in every age:

the promise to Israel, the rescue from Egypt,

the gift of the promised land, the words of the prophets;

and, at this end of all the ages, the gift of your Son,

who proclaimed the good news in word and deed

and was obedient to your will, even to giving his life.

In the night in which he was betrayed,

our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;

broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,

and gave it for all to drink, saying:

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup,

we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.

Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup

we remember the life our Lord offered for us.

And, believing the witness of his resurrection,

we await his coming in power to share with us

the great and promised feast.

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.

Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit,

that we who share in Christ’s body and blood

may live to the praise of your glory

and receive our inheritance with all your saints in light.

Amen.  Come, Holy Spirit.

Join our prayers with those of your servants of every time and place,

and unite them with the ceaseless petitions of our great high priest

until he comes as victorious Lord of all.

Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever.

Amen.[iv]

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

We break the bread of life,

and that life is the light of the world.

God here among us,

light in the midst of us,

bring us to light and life.

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion

Communion Hymn

‘For the Bread Which You Have Broken’  Common Praise #74

The Sending Forth of the Community

Prayer after Communion

God of justice and mercy,

gather into Christ’s holy reign

the broken, the sorrowing and the sinner,

that all may know

wholeness, joy and forgiveness.

Blessed are you for ever and ever.  Amen.[v]

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen.

Closing Hymn

‘Rejoice, the Lord Is King’  Common Praise #379

Dismissal

Priestly people of God,

go forth to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Notes

Any liturgical elements not noted here are taken from ‘The Holy Eucharist’ in The Book of Alternative Services, p. 185 ff.

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[i] Scripture Prayer for Reign of Christ Year B in Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), 217.

[ii] Affirmation of Faith 7 from Common Worship (2000), 148 alt.

[iii] Intercessory Prayer for Reign of Christ in Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), 216 alt.

[iv] Thanksgiving at the Table VI in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 66, with the Eucharistic Preface for the Last Sunday after Pentecost:  The Reign of Christ from The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 223.

[v] Thematic Prayer for Reign of Christ in Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), 216 alt.